History --History, California --General
History --History, United States (excluding California) --History, Arizona
History --History, United States (excluding California) --History, Utah
History --History, United States (excluding California) --History, Nevada
History --World War II
Social Sciences --Political Science --General
Social Sciences --Urban Planning and Environment

Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.

Abstract:
Contains materials collected by Ralph W. Hollenberg chiefly during his tenure as Acting Director of
the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, from 1939 to 1941. Contains administrative records,
program files, and farm labor research materials relating to FSA activities in Region IX, which
included Calif., Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Administrative files include a small amount of
correspondence, reports, speeches, and press releases, along with minutes of meetings, and
publications, which includes several bibliographies with a focus on agricultural labor in the west,
particularly Calif. The bulk of the collection is dedicated to a variety of agricultural, housing, and social programs
created and administrered by the FSA, and may include correspondence, reports, memoranda,
statements, and clippings. Farm labor research files focus on farmer organizations and agricultural
development in Calif., and includes a few files containing reports, statements, talks, and press
releases, with other printed material and clippings from 1942-1945, concerning the evacuation of
Japanese Americans from the west coast during World War II.

Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
reader.

Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Materials relating to the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, San Francisco were given to The
Bancroft Library by Ralph W. Hollenberg from 1942 through 1945, via Paul Schuster Taylor.

Funding

Funding for processing provided in part by a Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), Title III:
Networking, Preservation and Statewide Resource-sharing grant, 1994-1996.

Administrative History

Ralph W. Hollenberg collected a variety of materials during his tenure as Acting Director, Region IX,
U.S. Farm Security Administration, from 1939-1941. The materials range from before and after his
tenancy, and cover the period of 1938-1945. The FSA was created on September 1, 1937, as an agency to
replace the Resettlement Administration.

The FSA divided the United States into twelve regions, grouping states by agricultural similarities;
Region IX included California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The regional office was responsible for making
loans and coordinating resettlement projects. Each regional director had the services of advisers in
Business Management, Labor Relations, Personnel and Information.

During Hollenberg's tenure, the priorities for Region IX included the Farm Rehabilitation Program, the
Tenant Purchase Project and Emergency Relief Grants. Beginning in 1941, the FSA stressed increased food
production as part of the War Food Administration. This period was a busy one for the FSA, but their
basic philosophy was that the FSA was one program and that one part of the program would not produce
results unless complemented by the other parts. The Farm Security Administration believed that farmers
must be aided as a whole, whatever their position on the agricultural ladder. They stressed that
agriculture can only prosper as a whole, and that low-income farmers must be assisted whether they are
owners, tenants, share croppers, or agricultural workers.

Scope & Content

This collection consists of documents collected by Ralph W. Hollenberg during his tenure as Acting
Director of the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, from 1939 to 1941. Included are administrative
records, program files, and farm labor research materials relating to FSA activities in Region IX, which
included California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada.

Administrative files include a small amount of correspondence, reports, speeches, and press releases.
Minutes of cooperative meetings and legislative strategy sessions illustrate professional affiliations
between the FSA and the La Follette Committee and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Publications
includes several bibliographies with a focus on agricultural labor in the west, particularly California.

The bulk of the collection is dedicated to the variety of agricultural, housing, and social programs
created and administered by the Farm Security Administration, and may include correspondence, reports,
memoranda, statements, and clippings. The farm labor research files, with a focus on farmer
organizations and agricultural development in California completes the collection.